The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated NYC’s housing crisis. With more than 1 million people in NYC living below the poverty line, and so many people out of work, how can we expect people to keep up with their rent and mortgages?
In December of 2020, we went to LIC in Queens, an area of rapid gentrification, with our projections demanding housing justice for NYC. We called for canceling rent, putting a moratorium on evictions and luxury developments, forgiving rent & mortgage debt accumulated during the Covid-19 crisis, and for the city to immediately house our homeless population.
The housing crisis affects homeowners, tenants, and unhoused people. We need to lower property tax rates for family homeowners. We need to abolish the Tax Lien Sale and replace it with something humane. We need to stop the NYC Rent Guidelines Board from raising rents. NYC needs to invest in community land trusts, which create permanent affordable housing by removing property from the speculative market. NYC needs to invest in low-income, affordable, & public housing. We need to keep NYCHA public, not allow the government to privatize it to make a profit. We need to put people over profit and take care of NYers.
Housing is a human right!
This projection was part of ABC No Rio’s Take What You Can’t Get Exhibition, curated by Christina Freeman.